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Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility

The Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issues ethics opinions interpreting both the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the Model Code of Judicial Conduct. ABA Formal Opinions have been cited as persuasive when courts around the nation interpret state-adopted Rules of Professional Conduct.

News and Announcements

Proposal on Lawyer Advertising Rules

On Monday, August 6, 2018 the ABA House of Delegates passed Resolution 101, adopting amendments to the lawyer advertising rules.

Recent Ethics Opinions

Formal Opinion 484

Lawyers may refer clients to fee financing companies or brokers in which the lawyers have no ownership or other financial interests provided they comply with Model Rules 1.2(c), 1.4(b), 1.5(a) and (b), 1.6, 1.7(a)(2), and 1.9(a).

Formal Opinion 483

Model Rule 1.4 requires lawyers to keep clients “reasonably informed” about the status of a matter and to explain matters “to the extent reasonably necessary to permit a client to make an informed decision regarding the representation.” Model Rules 1.1, 1.6, 5.1 and 5.3, as amended in 2012, address the risks that accompany the benefits of the use of technology by lawyers.

Formal Opinion 482

Ethical Obligations Related to Disasters (September 19, 2018) - The Rules of Professional Conduct
apply to lawyers affected by disasters. Model Rule 1.4 (communication) requires lawyers to take reasonable steps to communicate with clients after a disaster.

Formal Opinion 481

A Lawyer’s Duty to Inform a Current or Former Client of the Lawyer’s Material Error (April 17, 2018) - Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.4 requires a lawyer to inform a current client if the lawyer believes that he or she may have materially erred in the client’s represe ntation.

Formal Opinion 480

Confidentiality Obligations for Lawyer Blogging and Other Public Commentary (March 6, 2018) - Lawyers who blog or engage in other public commentary may not reveal information relating to a representation, including information contained in a public record, unless authorized by a provision of the Model Rules.

Formal Opinion 479

The “Generally Known” Exception to Former-Client Confidentiality (December 15, 2017) - A lawyer’s duty of confidentiality extends to former clients. Under Model Rule of Professional Conduct 1.9(c), a lawyer may not use information relating to the representation of a former client to the former client’s disadvantage without informed consent, or except as otherwise
permitted or required by the Rules of Professional Conduct, unless the information has become “generally
known.”

Formal Opinion 478

Independent Factual Research by Judges Via the Internet (December 8, 2017) - Easy access to a vast amount of information
available on the Internet exposes judges to potential ethical problems. Judges risk violating the Model Code of Judicial Conduct by searching the Internet for information related to participants or facts in a proceeding.

Latest Ethics Opinions

Past Events

Resolution 109 Adopted By ABA HOD

On August 8, 2016 the ABA House of Delegates approved Standing Committee on Ethics resolution 109 to amend Model Rule 8.4 to bring into the blackletter of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct an anti-harassment and antidiscrimination provision. A list of co-sponsors and supporters as well as previous drafts and comments is available here. See video

April 2016

The Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility voted to file a resolution with the ABA House of Delegates for consideration in August 2016 recommending that Model Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4 be amended to create new paragraph (g). This new paragraph would bring into the black letter of the Model Rules an anti-discrimination and anti-harassment provision. The resolution would also include the creation of three new Comments. A redlined version of the proposal is available here.

December 2015

The Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued a draft proposal to amend ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4 and Comment [3] to Rule 8.4.

A public hearing was held on Sunday, February 7, 2016 from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, 3rd Floor, South Tower, Balboa & Mission Hills Meeting Rooms, San Diego, CA.

After reviewing comments from the public hearing and comments submitted in writing, the Committee will resume its work with the aim of producing a final Report and Resolution for consideration by the ABA House of Delegates at the August 2016 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA.

Please visit the Model Rule 8.4 homepage to see the proposal, the memorandum and all comments received to date. To access the proposal directly, click here. The memorandum explaining the Ethics Committee’s drafting choices is also available here. The proposal reflects the efforts of the Ethics Committee to examine how the Model Rules of Professional Conduct address discrimination and harassment by lawyers and is meant to further focus and advance the discussion on this important issue.

July 2015

In conjunction with the ABA Annual Meeting, the Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility held a roundtable discussion on a working discussion draft of revisions to ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4. Under consideration was relocating the prohibition against knowingly discriminating or harassing another person in conduct relating to the practice of law or in the practice of law from current Comment [3] into the black letter of the Rule as new paragraph (g). Additional revisions were also made to the Rule. Interested persons were encouraged to come to the roundtable to discuss the draft and offer their recommendations and suggestions.

The Working Discussion Draft from this rountable is available here. More information about language choices the Committee made is available here.